Hon Chair, the ACDP wishes, firstly, to place on record its appreciation and thank the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, the hon Mrs Fubbs, as well as all other members of the committee, who applied their minds to the drafting of this Legal Metrology Bill.

It is the understanding of the ACDP that this Bill was necessitated by international best practice, and is being introduced to replace the Trade Metrology Act, thus ensuring that South Africa does indeed have the technical infrastructure to guarantee that products originating in our country are safe and well suited to their intended purpose.

The Bill seeks to ensure the appropriate quality and credibility of regulatory measurement results in the health, safety, environment and trade domains through the traceability of measurements and the development of technical regulations. In addition, it encompasses the monitoring and enforcement of measurements in the appropriate domains, and consumer protection, as well as the levelling of the playing field for industry.

The ACDP is cognisant of the fact that globalisation is placing increasing demands on countries to ensure that those countries have the technical infrastructure to guarantee that products originating in their territories are safe and fit for purpose. Of critical importance to the ACDP is to understand that technical infrastructure which has not compromised standards, quality assurance, metrology and accreditation is also used in the Industrial Policy Action Plan. It is used to lock out noncompliant products and to lock in compliant South African products to export markets.

Hon Chair, the ACDP supports the Legal Metrology Bill, as it lays the foundation for maintaining and improving our regulatory institutions so that they remain relevant as the platform for economic efficiency and market access for all South African products. I thank you.